Unemployment at 8-year high

AGENCIESJan 13, 2003, 05.35am IST

WASHINGTON: US companies slashed 101,000 jobs in December as retailers limped through a cheerless holiday season, leaving unemployment at an eight-year high of 6% at the close of a year that many workers want to forget.

Last month's job cuts, the sharpest in 10 months, were widespread and followed a revised loss of 88,000 in November, the Labour Department said on Friday.